Are you a gamer who has an interest in playing a Souls-Type game but have avoided trying one for fear of getting your virtual ass handed to you over and over, leading to you rage quitting and questioning why you play games to begin with? I’ve been there. But what if I told you that playing and beating a Souls-Type game is not the impossible task that you may have been led to believe it is? Join me as I share my experiences and gameplay footage of the many boss battles I fought my way through in Nioh; you might even learn a thing or two, like how to properly beat some of these bosses after seeing them smack me around a bit. Welcome to Nioh Respawn: Blade of the Noob, and enjoy yourselves.
Boss #7: Great Centipede
I liked this boss battle…but only because I was able to defeat this one on my first attempt as well, which is what I really needed after getting owned time and time again by that damn Tachibana Muneshige. Not that I did especially well in this battle, mind you, the Great Centipede was rather tricky and managed to smack me around a number of times, and it took me a long time to kill it. Still, the fact I was able to defeat it in one go despite how slow I was in figuring out its attack patterns, as well as the low number of health items I had, proves that this boss just ain’t all that. Mechanically speaking, the Great Centipede is quite different from pretty much all the other bosses in the game and is very unique. Not very memorable though.
Boss #8: Umi-bozu
Another big monster boss battle, this one against a giant water-based demon known as an Umi-bozu. We get a brief look at this guy in a cutscene before the beginning of the same mission where we end up fighting him, and I knew the second I saw him that he would be a challenge. While avoiding most of the Umi-bozu’s attacks wasn’t too problematic for me, they deal out a lot of damage when they do manage to connect, especially that damn “water cannon” attack of his which is basically a one-hit kill move…as you will see in the video below of my first rather shamefully brief encounter with him. Try not to blink for too long, or else you might miss the whole video.
Despite that setback, Umi-bozu ended up not being quite as tough as I thought he’d be, evidenced by the fact that I was able to defeat him in my very next attempt. As you’ll see in the next video below, it took me a while to get fully accustomed to this boss’s attacks and to properly avoid them, and I didn’t pick up too quickly on when he was most vulnerable to my attacks. At least it didn’t take too long for me to figure out that this boss was weak to fire and not lightning as I had originally assumed. Overall, a decently tough boss but far from impossible.
Boss #9: Joro-Gumo
Whoo! This boss had me at the edge of my seat, and given the long duration of my battle against her, that’s a long time for me to be so precariously perched upon my chair. Spider bosses in most games tend to be huge pains in the ass, so when this Joro-Gumo made herself known, I was certain I’d be in for a tough fight. And this was a tough fight, especially since I was, again, rather slow in figuring out the best way to deal with this boss’s attacks and other bag of tricks, like her damn webbing she uses to slow me down. And it’s not until I faced this boss again much later in the game (certain monster bosses like this one, Hino-enma, and especially Onryoki are encountered multiple times in later missions) that I figured out how to effectively get behind her so I can use my sword to smack that big ass of hers (her weak point).
Despite how tough and tricky Joro-Gumo was, I surpassed my own expectations and defeated her in one go. Granted, as you will see in the video below, it took me a rather long time to deal with this boss, so if you watch the video, be ready for another crusade. Still, I never expected to defeat this many bosses in my first Souls-Type game in one go. Sure, many of you “hardcore” gamers out there won’t be impressed by my performance, but I don’t give two shits. This isn’t a competition to see who’s better at exploiting enemy AI or who has the best natural instincts when it comes to fighting a new boss, for me it’s all about SURVIVAL. And despite the fact that, once again, fellow Gaming Respawn associate Ian Cooper showed me up by also defeating Joro-Gumo on his first try AND without suffering any damage, I’m still counting this as a badass victory….also, keep in mind that Ian is not a Souls noob like myself, so that is mostly why he appears so godlike compared to the lowly mortal who hosts this feature.
So ends this week’s “monster mash” of Nioh boss fight videos. These nasty creatures gave me long battles, that’s for sure, but neither of them provided especially difficult challenges. Could it be that I’m actually that naturally gifted at this game? Did all those play sessions with Onimusha, Ninja Gaiden, and Devil May Cry really help prepare me for my first Souls-Type game? Could any boss besides Tachibana Muneshige provide me with a real challenge? Shit, I’m probably gonna be eating those words very soon. Find out if that is the case by joining us for Part 4 of Nioh Respawn: Blade of the Noob next Friday.